Chuck v Trust or Lack Thereof
by rokerroar
Summary: Chuck believes he knows how to make the intersect to work but the consequences may lead to changes to the team
1. General Beckman is persuaded

_A/N: First fanfic so be gentle. Having read just about all of the Chuck fanfic that is out there I thought it was time to get off the bench and get in the game._

_This is set after the end of 3.09 and ignores 3.10 and the first chapter was written pre 3.11._

Chuck Bartowski lay awake, unable to sleep due to his mind racing at the implications of being able to flash again. He had admitted he loved Sarah but somehow he didn't think that in itself was why he was suddenly able to flash and rescue both himself and his bearded best friend. He asked himself what else was different compared to the times he had been unable to flash when required, or more precisely when he had been unable to flash when Special Agent Daniel Shaw required him to. Chuck sat up suddenly after having an Eureka moment. If his epiphany was to be believed he now knew what the obstacles were to his being able to access the intersect when needed and if he was right it would have serious implications for Team Bartowski some of which he was saddened by.

With a new found resolve Chuck jumped out of bed and quickly showered, brushing his teeth and getting dressed in his usual nerd herd outfit and black hi-tops. Grabbing the keys to his nerd herder, deliberately leaving his watch with the tracking device, Chuck headed to Castle to try and speak to General Beckman before Sarah, Casey or Shaw arrived for the scheduled 8am briefing.

* * *

Sarah pulled into the carpark outside of the Orange Orange, exiting her Porsche just as Casey pulled to a halt in his beloved Crown Vic closely followed by Agent Shaw in a Jaguar XKR. Casey, being Casey and realising Shaw and Sarah had arrived separately couldn't resist having a dig at Sarah, "Trouble in paradise between you and Superman?" he teased.

Sarah just glared at him not wanting to give Casey the satisfaction of knowing that he was close to the truth following Shaw's willingness to destroy Castle with Chuck still inside. Last night Sarah had made it clear to Shaw that she was upset about his casual willingness to kill Chuck and had spent the night alone in her hotel contemplating calling Chuck but too afraid to do so.

Shaw casually walked to the Orange Orange entrance oblivious to the tension between Sarah and Casey as they approached the entrance ready for the briefing to discuss the implications of the Ring gaining access to Castle.

"Hold on," Sarah exclaimed, "shouldn't Chuck be here for the briefing, after all he was inside and has better knowledge of what the Ring did to Castle than we do?".

Casey grunted his agreement and quickly checked his phone app to identify Chuck's location according to the tracking device in Chuck's watch, "The moron's still at home, probably slept in after all of yesterday's excitement. Beckman is going to tear him a new one." The last said with an amused grin.

Shaw appeared unconcerned, "Well we can't wait, so lets get this over with and we can speak to Chuck later when he gets here."

Sarah was not as sanguine as Shaw and Casey believing that Chuck would not missing anything spy related considering in his own words it is all he has left now. She kept her silence recognising that there was nothing she could do before the briefing and with a twinge of doubt nagging her as she realised she no longer knew Chuck as well as she used to. There was also no small element of guilt as Sarah Walker accepted that some element of blame for that must be attached to herself but Agent Walker's emotionless mask was quickly reasserted as the three experienced spies of team Bartowksi entered the freezer that descended into Castle proper.

As they descended into Castle, voices could be heard and the three agents were immediately alert with weapons drawn as they quickly rushed into the main conference room hoping to get the drop on whoever had infiltrated their base. They were met by the sight of Chuck staring at them with a bemused expression and the General on a monitor looking annoyed at being interrupted mid-flow.

"As I was saying," the general stated grabbing everyone's attention while making it clear she was addressing Chuck specifically. Chuck whirled around to face the general with a stoic expression on his face hiding the underlying nervousness that he felt. This was it, her response to the arguments he had just made would determine if he had a future in the intelligence community or if it was time to cut his losses and accept that his future lay in the civilian world, hopefully far away from the Buy More.

However, before General Beckman could continue Shaw stepped forward a dark expression on his face directed squarely at Chuck but his words were address to the dimunitive red haired general who was in no way cowed by his prescence, "General, what is the meaning of this, I thought the team briefing was not until 0800?"

"Stand down Agent Shaw while I finish my discussion with Agent Bartowski!" The General responded with particular emphasis on the "Agent" part which was not missed by Sarah and Casey who were so used to the General referring to Chuck as either the asset, the intersect or Mister Bartowski that the significance caused them to immediately realise that something important was happening.

Having mildly put Shaw in his place the General once again turned her attention back to Chuck, "As I was saying Agent Bartowski you have articulated your case very well and the arguments you have made have been done in a concise and well rationalised manner and I do believe they have some merit."

Chuck let out a breath he did not realise he had been holding and fought to keep a small bittersweet smile from appearing on his face. The other three present in the room were experiencing a variety of emotions. Shaw was annoyed and angry that he had been excluded, he viewed Chuck as a weapon to be moulded as he saw fit and was angry that he was excluded from any discussions concerning Chuck. Casey was piqued by professional curiosity, as any spy would be when there were secret matters being discussed right in front of them, but he also had a sense of pride as Chuck appeared to be more relaxed and confident in himself plus he seemed to be being more pro-active in dealing with the General. Oh and he was also pissed off that Chuck was not wearing his watch, he was after all still the intersect, but that was something to deal with later.

Sarah was conflicted, she was just as curious as Casey and just as pissed off as well, but she was also concerned at the change in Chuck. When she looked at Chuck she saw a confident, handsome man that still made her burn with desire but at the same time she saw him becoming more comfortable in the spy world and he no longer sought her advice and guidance. She wanted Chuck to be confident but she also wanted him to be the sweet natured nerd she first met who would put friends and family first and was tormented by having to lie to his sister. She was also concerned that some of her actions may have contributed to his change but she was scared of talking to him in case these fears were confirmed.

Everyone was pulled out of their reverie when General Beckman started speaking again, "I believe your ideas have merit Agent Bartowski, but before I consider making any changes I will need to see a successful demonstration, we will reconvene at 18:30 this evening when we will put your theory to the test Agent Bartowski." The General immediately logged off with her customary abruptness and without saying goodbye. Expecting the usual inane comments from Chuck about the Generals lack of manners Casey and Sarah were surprised when Chuck simply stood and announced he was off to start his shift at the Buy More.

Agent Shaw stepped in front of Chuck blocking his exit from the Buy More, a furious expression on his face, "What the hell was that about Chuck?". Sarah seeing the dark expression on Shaw's face and recognising the rage building there and having witnessed first hand how Agent Shaw could react when angre surreptitiously reached for the gun in the waist band of her white Capri pants only for Casey to grab her arm. She was ready to shake him off when they locked eyes and the unspoken communication that exists only between long term partners made it clear that Casey would support her but to wait to see how Chuck would play out the situation.

Instead of being cowed by Shaw Chuck was remarkably calm and, trusting in his belief that he could now access the intersect at will, flashed, covering it up by lowering his head so that Shaw could not see the tell tale fluttering of Chuck's eyes. Coming out of the flash Chuck calmly grabbed Shaw's wrist applying pressure to the nerve points there immediately causing Shaw to release his grip and fall to his knee's in agony. "That," Chuck stated emphatically, "was a private conversation between an NSA agent and his commanding officer with specific instruction not to be discussed with other team members at this time and while I am loathe to keep secrets from my team mates, in this instance I accept its necessity as it will, hopefully, only be for a short time." Having finished, Chuck released Shaw and continued to the Castle exit briefly nodding to Casey and Sarah in acknowledgement of their tacit support.

Casey soon followed Chuck to start his own shift at the Buy More but as he was crossing the car park his cell phone starting ringing with the distinctive ring tone that let him know it was official NSA business. Pausing mid-stride Casey answered his phone with a crisp "Casey, secure" only to be surprised to find General Beckman on the other end of the line.

"Colonel Casey, I expect you are wondering what the conference with Bartowski was about" pausing to give him a chance to respond.

"General, I must admit that I am intrigued but trust that if there is anything that I need to know you will keep me informed." Casey responded downplaying his inevitable curiosity about what Bartowksi was up to. He had been in Burbank babysitting the nerd for nearly 3 years and while it may not have been the battlefields of Iraq or Afghanistan he had to admit that he had seen plenty of action and the nerd was always entertaining and quite often very creative in his solutions to problems but he was worried that Chuck may have done something stupid.

"Colonel, we have worked together a long time and you have proven your loyalty is beyond doubt and I have learned to value your opinion." The General, for the first time Casey could recall sounded slightly flustered and nervous, pausing to gather her thoughts before continuing, "Bartowski has presented to me his reasons why he believes the intersect has been so erratic lately and also a proposal for rectifying this. I have arranged for our conversation in the Castle to be erased from the surveillance tapes but have sent a copy to you. Before this evenings meeting I want you to review the conversation and let me know if you agree with Bartowski's assessment." Casey grunted his assent, fully expecting the General to hang up without saying anything else and was greatly surprised when the General spoke again "If his assessment is accurate it could result in the intersect becoming much more reliable and effective but to do so would necessitate drastically changing the way the team works, so I must emphasise Colonel that I need an objective assessment of Bartowski's comments".

End chapter.

_Next chapter will cover Chuck and Beckmans discussion and Casey's reaction to it, there may also be Charah._


	2. Casey's onboard

_A/N: Fantastic encouragement from reviewers give me the incentive to write this chapter quicker than planned_

As soon as Casey and Chuck left the Castle Shaw logged onto the system attempting to use his access level to override the security and review the surveillance of the conversation Chuck had just concluded with the General. Sarah was standing watching over his shoulder, she wanted to speak to Chuck to find out what was going, believing that if she could get him alone he would open up to her but she also wanted to keep an eye on Shaw, worried what reaction he would have after watching the playback. Instead all she got was Shaw punching the console in angry frustration and exclaiming "It's been erased!"

Stepping up to the monitor to see for herself a Sarah confirmed that shortly after Chuck entered the Castle all security feeds had been deleted. She felt both a touch of pride that Chuck was developing into a proficient agent but also a sense of trepidation that his change was now irreversible and the Chuck she fell in love with was no longer there.

"Work him," Shaw commented emotionlessly, his anger now under control.

"What?" Sarah shot back, not entirely sure what he meant but having her suspicions.

"I want you to work Chuck like a mark and find out what he and Beckman are up to."

"Your kidding", Sarah exclaimed, "You want me to manipulate a team member just so you can satisfy some curiosity and incidentally disregard the orders of a General."

Fire briefly flashed in Shaw's eyes and for a brief instant Sarah recognised the paranoia that lay behind Shaw's blank facade. The fire was quickly hidden by Shaw as he moved close to Sarah and reached out to caress her cheek. "Look", he began calmly, "something is going on and we are being kept in the dark. How can we protect Chuck and develop him if we do not know what he is up to. I want you to get close to him, seduce him if you need to but I need to be able to control the intersect if I am going to beat the ring."

Sarah shuddered at his touch, the anger and paranoia she had witnessed serving as a bucket of cold water to break her free of whatever connection she believed she had with Shaw. The mention of seducing a team mate was the straw that finally broke the camel's back and the use of the personal I to describe his battle against the ring made her realise that Shaw was not interested in her or protecting the greater, she was just a means to an end and that end was vengeance for the death of Shaw's wife. There was no way the old Chuck would ever ask her to seduce someone and she hoped he had not changed too much. She really wanted to have a long clear the air discussion with Chuck but the realisation that Shaw may be more dangerous that any Ring agent meant that she had to maintain her distance from Chuck in order to protect him. With that in mind Sarah acceded to Shaw's request to allow her the opportunity to spend time with Chuck while maintaining Shaw's trust to keep an eye on him.

It had just turned noon as Sarah left the Orange Orange to visit Chuck putting up the closed sign and ignoring the incongruity of a food service establishment being closed at what should be the busiest time of the day. As she was crossing the parking lot she saw Casey exiting the Buy More, making his way to his precious crown vic. Altering her course Sarah moved to intercept Casey before he reached his car, "Do you know what is going on?" she asked.

"Right now I know as much as you do", Casey replied feeling guilty for deceiving a team mate regarding the General's instructions although as I have not yet reviewed the conversation I am not technically lying he rationalised to himself.

"Relax Walker I am sure we will find out soon enough" and with that Casey strode past Sarah to his car and was soon roaring out of the parking lot. Sarah stared at the fastly disappearing car before turning on her heels and striding through the Buy More entrance.

As she entered the store her gaze immediately sought out the nerd herd desk but she was disappointed to find Chuck absent from his usual station. She was so used to seeing him behind the desk making sure that his fellow herders did not scare the customers too much. She was absorbed in trying to figure out where Chuck was that she almost didn't notice Morgan sidling up to her in what she was sure Morgan thought was a casual manner but which to even a half trained eye screamed out that he was trying not to notice. Once he was close enough he whispered out of the side of his mouth "What can I do to help you agent Walker?"

Sarah would have been amused if she was not so keen to find Chuck so she was a little sharp in her response, "Do you know where Chuck is?"

"Why is he needed for some top secret mission?"

"Not at the moment, I just want to talk to him", Sarah responded.

"Oh, OK", Morgan replied before giving Sarah the answer she was looking for, "He volunteered himself for cage duty today so I am stuck with keeping an eye on Jeff and Lester."

Giving Morgan a quick nod of thanks Sarah quickly hurried to the back of the store exercising a great deal of self control to stop herself from running. Pausing just outside the room with the cage in it she took a deep breath to calm herself before entering. Once inside she took a moment to familiarise herself with the cage and to briefly watch Chuck as he worked away on repairing a computer. She immediately noticed that he had his ipod playing and that he looked the most relaxed she had seen him in a long time. She admired the proficiency with which he inserted new parts into the open computer that lay in front of her and couldn't stop a grin appearing on her face as she noticed the cute way his tongue stuck out the side of his mouth as he concentrated.

Chuck knew Sarah was there having felt the draught caused by the open door and recognising the scent from her shampoo which was still burned into his senses even though he had not been close enough to smell it since Barstow.

Sarah took a deep breath and moved to the door to the cage quietly saying "Chuck" to try and get his attention. He looked up at the sound of her voice and was immediately struck by how beautiful she was and felt himself starting to smile before quickly schooling his features into an indifferent expression. Chuck told himself that Sarah was with Shaw now and if she was here to see him it was spy related. They had not spent anytime together outside of missions since he had invited her and Casey to dinner after rescuing Devon and even then Chuck believed she only accepted because they would be surrounded by his friends and family, cementing the new cover status as friends.

Upon seeing Chuck start to smile Sarah felt the corners of her mouth turn up in response only for heart to break a little bit more when Chuck's smile was quickly eliminated and replaced by a blank stare of indifference. She took a deep breath and reminded herself she was there for a reason, to make sure Chuck was not in over his head and to maintain Shaw's trust. She was not sure how far Shaw would go to control the intersect but she was determined to act as buffer between Chuck and Shaw if need be and for now that meant going along with Shaw's request to find out what Chuck and the General had been talking about.

Casey arrived back at his apartment within ten minutes of leaving the Buy More. Quickly exiting his car and marching to his apartment he swiftly secured the location before booting up his lap top and retrieving the encrypted file that the General had sent. Queing the file up ready to play he donned a set of head phones to reduce distractions and settled down to listen to the conversation between Chuck and the General.

Putting on her sweetest smile, the one she kept for Chuck alone but hadn't used in some time she moved to stand alongside Chuck's work bench. Chuck just looked at her waiting for her to break the silence. To his surprise she looked extremely nervous and for a moment Chuck thought that she was really here to see him but a nagging doubt at the back of his mind and a determination not to be played, particularly at a crucial time in convincing Beckman that he was right caused him to speak up. Before he could do so though, Sarah spoke first, "Why no smile Chuck you used to be able to spare a smile for anyone?"

"Well I haven't had much to smile about lately Sarah but if you can honestly tell me that you are here to see me I am sure I will be able to spare one," Chuck responded with a hint of snarkiness that surprised Sarah but before she could replay Chuck continued, "or are you here on an assignment from Special Agent Shaw to pump me for information?"

A flash of guilt crossed Sarah's face at how perceptive Chuck was. She knew she was not doing this for Shaw but the fact that he seemed able to predict Shaw's reaction surprised her.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Chuck was disappointed that Sarah was still working for Shaw and strengthened his resolve, "Sarah I am not going to divulge what was discussed this morning, now if you don't mind I have a lot of work to get through before this evenings briefing and I could do without the distractions." At which point Chuck resumed listening to his ipod and lowered his head to continue working on the computer repair.

The dismissal was obvious to Sarah and she slowly backed out of the cage, never taking her eyes of Chuck, hoping he would look up and give her some sign that he still cared but all she saw was the top of his head with his unruly animal shaped curls that she loved so much but which were a clear sign he needed a haircut. When she reached the door Sarah practically ran out of the store fighting to stop the tears that threatened to fall. She made her way to her Porsche and headed home, unwilling to face Shaw at this time.

Casey finished watching Chuck and the General having been so engrossed that he had lost track of time. The end of the conversation reminded Casey that he was expected to report back to the General and he pondered her request "Did he agree with Bartowski's assessment?" "Hell yes!" was his response. Having watched the video and listened to Chuck explain his assessment it appeared obvious. His only concern was whatever test the General had planned. He hoped Chuck could pull it off because if so they could be rid of Shaw completely but there was a possibility that if Chuck succeeded it would result in Walker leaving also and no matter how good Chuck had gotten at hiding his feelings for Walker he worried for the moron's mental health if she was not around to support him.

A/N: Next chapter is the test


	3. The test begins

_A/N Apologies I did respond to some reviews saying this would be published last night so sorry for the delay._

At 5pm precisely Chuck was walking out of the Buy More, heading home to get cleaned up before returning to the Castle for the scheduled briefing.

At the same time Sarah Walker was drying herself off from a piping hot shower hoping the water and a little make up would hide the puffiness around her eyes from the tears she had been crying.

Colonel Casey was dressed and pressed and on the secure phone with General Beckman confirming his agreement with Chucks assessment in his morning conversation with the General. He was hoping the General would give him more information on the planned test but once Casey finished his report the General instructed him to proceed to the Castle and hung up with her usual abruptness.

Special Agent Daniel Shaw was already in the Castle where he had remained all day, obsessively watching the video surveillance of Chuck in the cage. He had observed Sarah being rebuffed by Chuck and come to the conclusion that his objective of making Chuck emotionally distant had succeeded ahead of schedule and that Sarah was no longer a useful tool for controlling Chuck but she would still be welcome in his bed.

* * *

Sarah was still not ready to give up on Chuck. She had never felt as happy as when she was on cover dates with Chuck and wanted to recapture the passion that was ignited in Barstow before Morgan's unwitting interference had ruined the moment, although it had probably saved them from being captured by Fulcrum. Now that she had glimpsed the turmoil behind Shaw's blank facade she was also determined to at least try and protect Chuck from Shaw's manipulations. The lack of knowledge regarding Chuck's discussion with the General and the uncertainty around whatever test was being planned was also making her extremely nervous.

Chuck slung his messenger bag over his shoulder and exited the apartment meeting Casey next to the fountain. Casey offered Chuck a ride to Castle in the Crown Vic which Chuck readily accepted. As they walked to the car Chuck was pleasantly surprised when Casey gave him a pat on the back and wished him good luck. Casey appeared as surprised as Chuck since as soon as he saw him start to smile he quickly grunted, "Don't screw it up moron!"

"Ah, there is the Casey we all know and love", Chuck joked in response before becoming serious for a moment, "I want you to know Casey, that no matter what happens with Beckman's test I appreciate your support and am thankful for all the times you have been there to save me and Sarah and no matter what happens you will always be able to count on me."

Casey responded with grunt number 11 (appreciate the sentiment but not going to admit it), "Let's get going numbnuts we don't want to be late."

Chuck and Casey entered Castle via the freezer and quickly descended to the conference room. Shaw and Sarah were already there although to Chuck's surprise there appeared to be some tension between them as they were located on opposite sides of the room.

Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs and with only enough time for Chuck to give a quick nod to Sarah and receive a small smile in return the General appeared on the monitor.

Shaw immediately took a step forward his arms across his chest with the muscles clenched, "General, I demand an explanation," he uttered with anger coursing through his veins, "I am in charge of the team and it is intolerable for team members and the intersect in particular to bypass the chain of command, so tell me what the hell is going on with Bartowski?". Shaw's voice gradually got louder until he was almost shouting at the end.

At the visible display of anger both Sarah and Casey moved to stand protectively either side of Chuck but Shaw was so focussed on the General that he was oblivious to the other three present in the room.

The General was icily calm in her response, "Agent Shaw, the intersect is an NSA project and Bartowski is an NSA agent ergo he is my agent and as such I have no problem with him contacting me. You are present on my say so as I believed that your knowledge of the Ring would be beneficial and I allowed you to assume command due to your greater experience. However that decision is increasingly looking erroneous as you have provided very little intel on Ring activities and shown yourself to be a disruptive team leader." The manner in which the General put down Shaw increased Chuck's respect for her immensely and a sidelong glance at Sarah and Casey showed likewise.

"Now," continued the General ignoring the look of stunned disbelief on the face of Agent Shaw and the barely concealed smirks on the faces of Walker and Casey. To her surprise it was Bartowski that had the stoic expression of a trained agent although that could be explained by the fact that he had the most at risk now. "If we can continue I would like to get this over with."

Casey, Sarah and Chuck moved to stand alongside Shaw in that order. Casey and Sarah deliberately manoeuvring Chuck to be as far from Shaw as possible. Shaw simply continued to glare at the monitor.

"Agent Bartowski contacted me this morning claiming that he now believes he can control the intersect at will subject to certain parameters and the purpose of this briefing and the next two days is to put Agent Bartowski's claims to the test." The general paused for her words to sink in and to gauge the reactions of the team. Chuck appeared to be unmoved as this was not a surprise to him, Sarah and Casey had mixed expressions combining surprise and in the case of Sarah, disappointment, possibly at Chuck not confiding in her. However, to the General's Machiavellian mind the look on Shaw's face was what amused her the most.

Shaw had a manic look that bordered on ecstasy at the prospect of finally having a fully functioning intersect close to hand to be manipulated to his will or if that failed forced to work for him and sparing a glance at Sarah, Shaw knew he also had the required leverage close to hand.

The General's amusement stemmed from the knowledge that if Chuck was successful then Shaw would never get to use the intersect and while he may have been a great agent at one time he was clearly no longer objective and the fact that he was CIA did not help his case with the General at all.

"For the purposes of this test, and I stress it is only a test in the sense that I wish to see Agent Bartowski demonstrate his claimed intersect control, everything else that occurs will be real," the General leaned forward to emphasis the importance of this point before sitting back and continuing. "For the purpose of this test Agents Shaw and Walker will be silent observers only, forbidden to assist or interrupt in anyway. Agent Bartowski will have mission lead and be responsible for setting mission objectives subject to my approval and he will have full responsibility for mission planning and parameters. Colonel Casey will provide whatever support Bartowski requests and is allowed to have input into the planning process if Agent Bartowski wishes."

At hearing this both Shaw and Sarah and started to protest but for entirely different reasons. Shaw was angry that Chuck was being given too much independence making him harder to control while Sarah was worried that she would not be in the field to help Chuck if needed. If she was honest she would admit to being jealous that Casey was the one assigned to help Chuck. The General quickly silenced them, instead turning to Casey seeking his confirmation that he understands his role before turning to Chuck to also gain his acceptance which was indicated with a small nod of the head.

"Okay Chuck, are you ready?" Beckman asked Chuck in a tone of voice that held a modicum of concern. Although she would never admit it Beckman was proud of Team Bartowski's achievements and did have some respect for Chuck, appreciating that he had been thrown in at the deep end but had coped surprisingly well and had actually been instrumental in the successful completion of a number or missions without having to rely on the intersect. He was a useful member of the team but up until now the General had largely viewed him as a tool to be used by Sarah and Casey, but if he was successful he and whatever team was built around him would be so much more effective.

"I was born ready," was the corny response that even Chuck realised was probably a little too nerdish but he still couldn't stop himself from finishing with "bring it on!"

The General couldn't stop a small smirk upwardly tilting the continues of her mouth before inwardly berating herself for finding Chuck's childish enthusiasm endearing, "Your mission should you choose to accept it is this man." The General finished at the same time as an NSA file photograph of a man appeared on the screen.

The photo was obviously taken from some distance with a long lens but the face of the man was clear as he was facing forward walking along the pavement with two hefty henchmen a couple of paces behind and one more on his right.

As soon as the picture appeared Casey and Sarah could see Chuck's eyes begin to flutter in the telltale signs of a flash but the fluttering stopped almost as soon as it had started and Chuck expectantly returned his attention to the General.

"Chuck, did you flash," Sarah queried, noticing Shaw lean forward eagerly to hear Chuck's response.

Instead it was the General who responded with a sharp rebuke, "Agent Walker you are to be a silent observer so please resume your seat and be quiet!" turning her attention to Chuck, "Well Agent Bartowski, did you flash?"

Casey focussed on Chuck's face trying to gauge what his response would be realising that if Chuck had not flashed this whole thing could be over before it had even started.

With a confident grin on his face Chuck replied "Yes and no."

_A/N Sorry but I do love me a cliffhanger_


	4. The test is passed?

"_Well Agent Bartowski, did you flash?"_

_With a confident grin on his face Chuck replied "Yes and no."_

"What do you mean "Yes and no"?" the General demanded, "this is no time for playing games."

"I started to flash but paused it if you will until you finish your mission briefing General, at which point will aloe the flash to continue. I know how annoyed you get whenever I interrupt."

Chuck responded. The expressions on the faces of those present told their own story. Beckman and Casey were astounded while Sarah had a look of surprise tinged with affectionate pride. Shaw tried to maintain a blank expression but even he was unable to hide the gleam in his eyes believing if Chuck could control the flashes so precisely he would be virtually unstoppable.

"That is impressive Agent Bartowski and I will consider it the first successful demonstration of your claimed ability to control the intersect but I will not be entirely satisfied until the same level of control has been demonstrated in the field." Beckman was determined that the test of Chuck's new found abilities would be as thorough as possible before seriously considering implementing the changes that Chuck had suggested would be necessary.

"As for the mission briefing, I have shown you the photograph my part in the briefing is over for now." Chuck was expecting a minimal briefing but even he was surprised at how little he had to go on.

Sarah's reaction was immediate and explosive as she went into protective mode "That's it! You show Chuck a photograph and give him nothing else to go on and expect him to complete a mission with no parameters."

Beckman was glad to see that Sarah was still supportive of Chuck and decided to allow the insubordination and provide some explanation "Agent Bartowski requested to be allowed some leeway in setting mission objectives and if he needs further information I expect him to ask for it."

At this point Chuck interjected, "No General I believe the picture alone should be enough to trigger sufficient information to come up with a mission plan."

"Okay Chuck proceed and we will reconvene at 2200 to discuss the proposed mission, which if it meets with my approval will be implement in the next two days. Good luck." At which point the General cut the connection.

Chuck without further ado allowed the flash to continue and was immediately hit with a succession of images, a leopard, guns, men meeting in a desert, bank statements, a succession of long range photos of a number of men, Los Angeles hotel addresses, telephone transcripts before finishing with the picture of the leopard again.

"The man is Ivan Chekov, ex-KGB but now believed to be a key supplier of arms to militia around the world as well as a money launderer. He is due to arrive in LA tomorrow for a deal with an unknown Ring operative to consider exchanging a range of high end military grade hardware which Ivan will sell to various militia groups in African countries that are supportive of the US." Chuck recited in a professional monotone before a clear luck of disgust crossed his face as he continued. "The guns are going to end up in the hands of children. The militia in these countries are known for forcing children to fight for them, mainly attacking small villages that they claim support corrupt governments. They don't hesitate to kill children or rape the women and girls." Chuck's expression was distraught before his resolve hardened. "We have to stop Chekov."

Casey responded calmly recognising he was the only one that Chuck would be relying on during this mission, "What do you suggest Agent?" deliberately using Chuck's designated rank in an attempt to keep Chuck focussed and level headed.

"Simply killing Chekov will accomplish nothing as I am sure someone will quickly step in to take his place and I am not an assassin and will not condone killing him in cold blood," the last said emphatically to ensure that Casey knew this was non-negotiable.

At the last statement Sarah's heart started to mend. She had been upset at seeing Chuck be absorbed into the spy world, slowly having his ideals and conscience eroded. The fact that he was still morally unable to take a life give her hope that he would not turn into the Shaw's and Bryce's of this world. She also felt a twinge of guilt that she had not taken any action to stop Chuck's descent. Yes she was hurt by Chuck's rejection in Prague but it was her that claimed they were still friends after the Generalissimo mission but ever since then she had avoided spending time with Chuck outside of missions choosing to become involved with Shaw instead.

At the thought of Shaw she stole a glance to where he was silently watching proceedings. She noticed a look of annoyance on his face as if something that had happened was not going according to plan. She realised that the same thing that had pleased her, i.e. Chuck's refusal to kill, was the same thing that had pissed off Shaw. He wanted Chuck to be a killer to help avenge his wife's death. At this realisation she was ashamed of herself, she had been intimate with a man who she knew did not truly care for her but who's plans for Chuck were the exact opposite of the man she wanted Chuck to be. She could not believe she had been so stupid.

"Okay Chuck, if we are not going to kill Chekov what are we going to do?" Casey queried.

"It will be most effective if we can identify and capture Chekovs contacts at both ends of the supply chain, i.e. the people he sells the weapons to and more importantly who his suppliers are, particularly the Ring contacts as this could give us a greater understanding of their organisation."

"OK how do we do that?"

"Chekov has a mini laptop that is with him at all times, you can see it in the photograph being carried by one of the henchmen or more accurately handcuffed to his wrist. I suspect it will have some sophisticated encryption but if we can get hold of the lap top I am sure that I will be able to decipher it and then we will be able to, at the least put tails on his contacts or arrest them." Chuck looked up at Casey seeking his approval and receiving a grunt of acknowledgement.

"OK I can support that objective, disappointed there won't be any gunplay but if successful it would put a big dent in the black market arms distribution."

"There's more," Chuck said, "we need to wait until after the deal to capture Chekov, otherwise the Ring agent will get spooked and simply disappear, and likewise we need to keep his capture quiet for as long as possible afterwards otherwise his contacts will most certainly start erasing their tracks."

"It would be even better if we could keep Chekov occupied while I crack his computer so that he doesn't even suspect that he has been made, but it would need a major distraction to make him forget about the lap top for long enough." Chuck was at this point thinking out loud having already realised this option was too optimistic and too risky as it could result in Chekov being alerted and cancelling the deal meaning the entire mission would be a bust.

Casey however thought is was a viable option particularly as he had a suggestion for keeping Chekov busy for at least a few hours, "We could always send Walker in as the distraction. With her track record she should be able to keep Chekov busy for quite a while." The last was deliberately said with an element of snark as Casey was trying to get a rise out of Chuck. Having seen the recording of Chuck;s conversation with the General he wanted to gauge Chuck's emotional state when it came to Sarah.

Chuck's reaction was exactly as Casey had expected and hoped for, "No, absolutely not. I will not pimp out Sarah or any other female agent for that matter, simply because it appears to be an easy solution." Chuck was clearly angry that Casey had even suggested it, "hell I wouldn't even do it if it was Carina. I don't care how much Sarah or Carina may deny it it is not simply sex, doing it long enough will eventually result in long term damage and emotional instability and I will not expose anybody to that kind of long term damage. We will stick with the original objective."

To Sarah this further evidence that Chuck was rediscovering himself and with every bit of evidence Sarah found herself falling in love with him all over again, further strengthening her resolve to let him know how she really feels.

At the same time Shaw was becoming more perplexed as from his perspective Chuck was moving further away from where Shaw wanted him. A spy who was not prepared to pull the trigger or use sex as a means to an end would effectively be a weapon without ammunition. Further the new found confidence that Chuck was exhibiting would mean that Shaw's manipulations were less likely to be effective, it was becoming increasingly clear that if he was going to be able to use Chuck he would have to apply some serious leverage. What that leverage would be did not take much figuring out since at their first meeting Chuck had made it clear that to him his friends and family were everything and then there was always Sarah. For whatever reason she had been sidelined for this test and even though Chuck had rebuffed her in the cage Shaw found it difficult to believe that he had stopped caring about her completely.

"Ok Chuck, as you have lead we will do it your way," Casey agreed, "We will brief Beckman at 2200 and assuming she gives the go ahead we will execute the mission tomorrow."

"Thanks Casey, while we are waiting we should grab something to eat and start mission planning, assuming Beckman agrees to the objective."

At Casey's request Sarah agreed to do a food return and took advantage of a brief private moment with Casey to give him a heads up regarding Shaw's changed attitude, "Casey, keep an eye on Shaw, whatever Chuck is doing now is not to Shaw's liking and I am worried he may try something!"

Casey was taken aback somewhat, "I thought you were all aboard the Shaw bandwagon, God knows you certainly haven't been helping Chuck lately," the last said with a hint of venom as Casey had seen what Sarah's relationship had been doing to Chuck.

Sarah was contrite as her own recent realisations made it difficult for her to argue against Casey's response but at the same time it made it easier for her to accept the criticism and come clean about her current feelings for Chuck. "I know I have been an idiot but for personal reasons I was upset with Chuck and wanted to protect myself and Shaw happened to be available. I know it makes me seem weak and I also forgot my primary responsibility is protecting Chuck. I swear that is over now and all I want to do is make sure Chuck is safe so please keep and eye on Shaw and call me immediately if anything happens."

"There may be hope for you yet Walker, now get before we all starve."

Sarah was elated that she had started to repair her relationship with Casey, something she had not even realised was broken that She surprised him with a quick kiss on the cheek before bounding up the stairs to get the food. She was hopeful that things would improve and that Team Bartowski would soon be back to normal. To start repairing her relationship with Chuck she decided to get his favourite food, sizzling shrimp, after all the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

Sarah was glad to see a smile from Chuck when he saw her food selection but was disappointed that he choose to put some distance between them while eating.

2200 came around and the conversation with the General was surprising brief as she readily agreed with Chuck's assessment and quickly approved the mission, hanging up to start putting the resources in place to ensure that the Ring contacts that would be present at the meeting could be followed as they departed.

Chuck and Casey quickly completed the mission planning, discussing and agreeing contingencies and back-ups, both realising that it was going to be extremely difficult due to all of the security that Chekov had in place and the fact that the entire mission was dependent on Chuck being able to access the intersect on demand.

Part of the planning included trying to identify what skills Chuck would require ranging from the usual martial arts abilities, lock picking, communications specialist to rock climbing. Each time a possible required skill was mentioned Chuck's grin got bigger and bigger as he was able to consciously access the interest to confirm the skill was available. Even Casey could not stop a grin appearing on his face as he was genuinely please to see this new Chuck. Confident and capable but still with a childlike wonder at it all. Chuck even showed off a little by addressing Casey in Russian after deciding understanding the language would be useful as all of Chekovs security team were ex-Russian military.

At this point Casey decided to rain on Chuck's parade a little to stop him getting too carried away, "Tone it down Bartowski, this it not a game, I don't want you getting killed because of over confidence.

Finally at 2am they called it a night, recognising the need for a good nights sleep to be in top condition for the mission the following evening.

While Casey and Chuck set about putting away the materials they had used for planning and shutting down the Castles monitors Shaw walked over to Sarah, oblivious to how her opinion of him had changed and fully expecting to be spending the night with Sarah in her hotel.

As Shaw gently took her elbow Sarah turned to face him putting a small smile on her face. She was fully prepared to spend the night with Shaw but purely so she could keep an eye on him as her way of protecting Chuck, but as she glance over Shaws shoulder she saw Chuck staring at them with a look of disappointment on his face. Remembering Chuck's earlier speech about not using sex simply as means to and end and vowing that she would not hurt Chuck anymore she removed Shaws hand telling him that she wanted to be alone tonight. Shaw had a look of mild disappointment but the relief on Chuck's face convinced Sarah she had made the right decision.

At 11pm the next evening everyone was back in Castle having successfully completed what was almost a flawless mission. The team managed to observe the meeting with the Ring, noting the handover of weapons and money and allowing the Ring agent to depart unaware of their presence. The Ring agent had been followed by another NSA team selected by Beckman from her own security detail to ensure they were loyal.

Chuck and Casey had followed Chekov back to his hotel where with the aid of the intersect flashing on mountaineering skills and for some reason, window glazing, Chuck was able to silent access the bedroom of Chekov's suite while he and his security were in the adjoining room. Having quickly tranquilised Chekov when he entered the bedroom, Chuck burst into the adjoin space and with a combination of kung fu and his duck hunt attuned skills with a tranq gun he was able to subdue the ex-military security detail that had failed in its objective of protecting Chekov. Chuck had returned to the van with the laptop, joining Casey for the ride back to Castle and leaving the arrest of Chekov and his goons to a specially assigned NSA clean-up crew.

Upon their return to Castle, Sarah had difficultly from jumping Chuck there and then. She and Shaw had followed the entire mission via the video feed at the meeting and via Chuck's lipstick camera during the assault on Chekov. Initially Sarah had been distraught that Chuck was putting himself in danger without her being there but as the mission progressed she realised that he was now more than capable of looking after himself but she was also overjoyed that he was still Chuck and had completed the mission without having to kill anyone. She was also sure that if Shaw and Casey had not been present she would have jumped Chuck's bones leaving him in no doubt how she really felt and not giving him any opportunity to turn her down.

As soon as they entered the conference room Chuck, with a smile on his face but ignoring Sarah and Shaw's presence, began linking up Chekov's laptop to his Castle workstation while Casey immediately began the link to General Beckman.

Beckman's face appeared on the screen and after a curt "Report Colonel Casey," both Casey and Chuck began to debrief the General on the mission.

"General, I can confirm that the mission went as planned and that Agent Bartowski did not have any difficulty accessing the intersect when required." Casey was trying to maintain his usual calm, collected centre but even he was buzzed at how well Chuck had performed. As far as he was concerned the only way the mission could have gone any better would be if he had the opportunity to fire off a few shots.

This time it was Chuck's turn to bring a dose of realism, "General, the mission is not yet complete I still have to decrypt Chekov's hard drive to be able to identify his contacts both in the States and in Africa and while I am confident that I can do it, it will take some time."

"How long Agent?" the General had gotten to the point where referring to Chuck as agent was almost automatic and she no longer thought of him as an asset that needed to be handled.

"Probably a couple of hours and considering the time here and the fact that Chekov was booked on an early morning flight I don't think any of his associates in Europe will realise something is wrong until he fails to get off the plane in Moscow. That should give us a 15-16 hour window to extract the information on his laptop and round up his contacts before they try to go to ground."

"Okay Agent, contact me when you have something and good job," enthused the General before cutting the link without waiting for a response.

After the adrenaline rush of the mission Chuck was starting to come down but realising he still had a job to do grabbed himself a cup of coffee before turning to address the team including Sarah and Shaw, "You guys should herd off, this is nerd herder stuff and you won't be able to help so you might as well get some sleep and I can give you an update tomorrow."

Casey readily agreed and started to pack up the equipment while Sarah just stared at Chuck with admiration. Chuck had his head down and was oblivious to Sarah's scrutiny, Shaw, however was not. Seeing the look on Sarah's face he realised that the reason he was shot down the previous night was because Sarah was still in love with Chuck even if Beckman's latest golden boy did not realise it. Shaw, anger building, quickly left Castle, his mind working on the best strategy to gain the leverage required to get Chuck to do what he wanted rather than what the General ordered.

Sarah, recognising the futility of trying to get Chuck's attention when he was engrossed in the computer world sighed and stood preparing to leave. To her surprise Casey, after bidding Chuck good night which was expectedly unacknowledged asked Sarah to walk to the parking lot with him.

"He's almost unrecognisable from the moron we first met, isn't he?" Casey asked. He did not truly believed Chuck had changed inside but he needed to know what Sarah though as he was contemplating doing something that may piss of a General and his direct boss.

Sarah's response was immediate and so full of emotion that Casey could have sworn he saw actual flames in her eyes, "Your wrong Casey, he is still exactly the same!", calming a little she clarified her views. "Yes he may now have all of these spy skills but he has not changed his priorities or his sense of right and wrong, his loyalty to his friends and family, no he hasn't changed at all."

Casey gave a non committal grunt continuing to listen to Sarah, even though she was almost talking to herself.

"I thought he was changing but that's only because I was upset and blinded by only seeing the spy and forgetting the man behind it."

Casey watched Sarah shake herself out of her reverie and come back to the present before speaking, "Chuck passed the test with flying colours and that means there are going to be some changes, I want you to watch this and I hope you will come to the right decision, not just for Chuck, but also for yourself." He handed her a flashdrive with a recording of Chuck's private discussion with the General, "Your the best partner I have ever worked with and you deserve to go after what you want, you both do." With that Casey turned and walked to his car without giving Sarah a chance to ask what was on the flash drive or tease Casey about his rare show of sentimentality.

_A/N: Next chapter will cover the discussion and there will be a Sarah/Chuck emotional discussion. However I will not have access to a computer for a while so the next chapter may not be up for a couple of weeks._


	5. The Discussion

_A/N: Wrote this last week but have not had internet access until now!_

Sarah drove her Porsche back to the hotel at a speed that would have had Casey giving out girlish screams, let alone Chuck. She was desperate to see what was on the flash drive Casey had handed to her in the parking lot. For some reason she felt as if her entire future would be decided by the contents.

Racing into the hotel, not even pausing to acknowledge the concierge she quickly rushed into her hotel room and fired up her CIA issued laptop. She could feel herself vibrating with anticipation and recognizing the need to calm herself, engaged some of the discipline honed through years of spy training and countless missions. Discipline that had been severely lacking whenever it came to one Charles Irving Bartowski. Sarah forced herself to take a shower before reviewing the files.

* * *

Back at Castle Chuck was getting himself a second cup of coffee while the decryption of Chekov's lap top continued. As he returned to his desk his cell phone started shouting at him, literally "Moron, Numbnuts, Moron, Numbnuts," and for the umpteenth time Chuck regretted teaching Casey how to program ringtones.

"Casey, I thought you would be asleep by now, is there a problem?" Chuck enquired before taking a gulp of coffee to try and stave off the exhaustion that was starting set in.

"Just wanted to give you a heads up. If you get a visitor tonight, do yourself a favour and cut her some slack." Chuck was about to respond asking Casey what he was talking about before Casey cut in, "And that is the last advice I am giving, I am done being Dr Phil for the two of you. "

"Uh thanks?" Chuck stammered, bemused at Casey's attempts to give romantic advice, having figured out he was talking about Sarah, while at the same time wondering what Casey had said to her to make him convinced that there was a possibility that she would be paying Chuck a visit tonight.

Before Casey's call Chuck was pleased with the progress the decryption program was making, but now it seemed to be taking forever and Chuck was now frustrated that he would be stuck at Castle for at least another hour waiting for it to finish.

* * *

Sarah finished her shower and threw on a robe, not bothering to dry her hair she sat at her lap top and loaded up the flash drive, selecting the only file, she immediately recognized the interior of Castle. The first thing she saw was Chuck enter and fire up the monitors before settling himself front and centre. Sarah leaned forward for a better view and increased the volume on the playback.

Sarah allowed herself a small smile as she saw how nervous Chuck was as he tried to establish a link to the General.

The General's face appeared on the screen. She was sat behind her office desk and unsurprisingly had a look of irritation at being contacted ahead of the scheduled briefing time. When she realized that only Chuck was present, irritation at being contacted early quickly changed to concern, "Mister Bartowksi, where are the rest of the team, has something happened?"

"No, General, they are fine as far as I am aware. I wanted to speak to you privately," Chuck nervously replied.

If anything, the General was now more annoyed that she had been, " I am extremely busy and do not have time nor inclination to have private discussions with a junior team member. Any concerns or problems you are having should be discussed with your superiors on the team and they can decide if it is worth bringing to my attention." Sarah observed the General reaching to terminate the link, having made her point and deemed the conversation to be over, but Chuck was not finished and was not ready to backdown.

"General, I know how to control the intersect." He blurted out in a rush to make sure the General heard before she cut the link.

The General paused with her hand still oustretched ready to terminate the connection at a moment's notice, "Okay Mister Bartowski, you have my attention briefly, explains yourself."

Chuck took a deep breath before continuing, "As I am sure Agent Shaw has made you aware, the intersect has been a little erratic lately, to say the least, and I think I have figured out why, ' Chuck paused to make sure he had the General's attention, "further I believe I now know how to make sure that I am able to access it when required in future."

The General's expression visibly change from one of mild interest to intensely focused on what Chuck had to say and significantly, she removed her hand away from whatever switch was used to terminate the link to Castle.

The General's expression was mirrored on Sarah's face as she released a breath she did not realize she had been holding.

"Well, Mister Bartowski, you certainly have my full attention, please continue."

With increasing confidence Chuck began his explanation, "Well General, the fundamental problem is that you have been trying to fit a Buy More nerd into a spy shaped hole where we should have been trying to figure out the best way to utilize me as I am i.e. find a nerd shaped hole in the spy world"

" Spies go through years of training part of which includes controlling their emotions and all along it has been assumed that my lack of emotional control interferes with the reliability of the intersect." Sarah could see Chuck visibly pause at the this point cluing her in that whatever Chuck was going to say next may be contentious.

"That assumption is wrong, my emotions have no impact on the intersect whatsoever."

At this point the General felt the need to interrupt, "We have seen time and time again that the intersect has been disrupted by your emotions, particularly where agent Walker is concerned."

Chuck was adamant, "It is not my emotions that are the problem," he quickly continued before the General had a chance to argue the point some more. "Look, I was targeted by the CIA at Stanford, along with Bryce, but as Bryce surmised I would never have fit into a typical agent role and it was not because of my emotions."

"I believe that field agents are selected based off a psych profile that indicates a moral flexibility, meaning they can be trained to view certain activities as being acceptable. Activities that that the majority of people consider immoral." Chuck was getting into his stride now and was talking in a calm confident manner.

"The activities I am talking about are things like being willing to kill on command or use sex as a weapon. I find it morally disagreeable that the CIA and NSA often seems to utilize this as a first option when I believe they should be a last resort only."

"But you have been involved in missions where people have been killed and where Agent Walker has had to seduce a mark."

"Yes I have but in the instances where Casey and Sarah have had to kill someone that per se was not the mission objective and in each instance occurred when we came under fire. I have also made it clear that I have never been comfortable with missions that required Agent Walker to seduce a mark."

Chuck decided to pre-empt the General and address the rebuttal he was sure the General would be poised to make, "I admit that whenever I see Sarah seducing someone my feelings for her make me jealous but I can assure you that I would have still objected even it had been Carina Hansen, or even Agent Forrest required to do so."

Chuck did not give the General anytime to digest what had been said so far as he was coming up to the most important part of the discussion, "Fundamentally my ability to access the intersect reliably is down to trust, foremost trust in myself. I am sure that if you review past missions you will see that anytime I have been required to access the intersect at my own initiative I have been successful. That is because it is my decision and my sense of right and wrong means it is a decision that I am comfortable is justified and hence I am able to access the intersect."

At this point the General did interject, "Interesting supposition Mr Bartowski, but what about those other times on missions where you have been able to utilize the intersect in accordance with mission planning requirements."

"I have reviewed prior missions and in those times where I have been asked to use the intersect and have successfully done so, I have had the chance to discuss my objections with Sarah or Casey. The fact that I used to trust Sarah and have come to trust Casey as my guides in spy world means I value their opinions and they have been able to convince me that the suggested course of action is justified in the circumstances."

Both the General and Sarah picked up on Chuck's use of the past tense when he referred to trusting Sarah and to Sarah it felt like a kick in the gut and she felt tears start to well in her eyes. She quickly wiped her eyes as the General responded on the screen, "Do I take it that you no longer trust Agent Walker?"

Chuck sighed heavily before continuing, "To be honest General, at this time, no I don't. But I want to make it clear it is not her loyalty to the team or her country I do not trust but instead I no longer trust her personal dealings with me. I used to be able to use her as a sounding board to help ensure that my conscience and morality was comfortable with what we where doing and more importantly in the instances where an immediate response was required I trusted her, like I now trust Casey, to make requests of me that I was capable of as well as comfortable doing."

Chuck was finding this unburdening to be cathartic and kept up the momentum, "The primary reason I no longer trust Sarah is agent Shaw."

"I do not trust his motives, personally I believe he is focused entirely on avenging his wife's death, nor do I trust his methods." Chuck stated.

"Since his arrival there has been no team Bartowski, instead we have Shaw giving orders with no input from the rest of us and minimum explanation. Colonel Casey frequently referred to me as being naïve but I am not the one who blindly follows orders and the lack of an explanation from Agent Shaw means that I do not trust that the mission objectives are for the Greater Good."

At this point the General was mesmerized, since even though Chuck was discussing personal feelings and views she could not argue that he was doing so in an objective manner.

"Further, Shaw has demonstrated a willingness to lie and manipulate me." The General raised her eyebrow at this and Chuck felt the need to expand. "He sent me on my first solo mission without bothering to inform me of what that mission was, leading me to believe I would be briefed on arrival in Paris when instead the mission was on the plane."

"In addition he did not provide support and my calls were ignored by both him and Agent Walker, if I had not been able to contact Colonel Casey I suspect I would have been killed and the mission been a failure."

"As a consequence of this I automatically have doubts about any mission that is instigated by Agent Shaw."

It was obvious to all that if Chuck's assertions were true that Agent Shaw's continued position as leader of Team Bartowski was untenable although Chuck had not as yet explicitly request Shaw's removal.

"My lack of trust in Agent Walker started prior to Agent Shaw's arrival due to a personal disagreement which I believed we were making progress on until Agent Shaw's arrival. Since he arrived and she started a relationship with him, another example of Agent Shaw's hypocrisy by the way, I believe she has been complicit in his manipulations, hopefully unwillingly but either way whenever she makes requests of me or tries to explain I have doubts that she is being honest and suspect she is simply feeding me whatever line Shaw has told her to."

At last Chuck seemed to be finished or at least awaiting a response from Beckman before continuing.

Sarah chose this moment to consider what Chuck had said, had she really been complicit in manipulating Chuck. With hindsight, considering how she now viewed Shaw, she could see that Chuck did have a point and that she had changed in her dealings with Chuck. She was still not ready to totally absolve Chuck as the memories of his rejection in Prague still smarted. The tears, by this time were freely streaming down her face as she could not envisage a way to gain Chuck's trust and was already ruing what could have been but now seemed hopelessly lost.

Steeling herself she prepared herself for more heartache as she considered that Chuck may request her reassignment she unpaused the video.

"To summarise Mister Bartowski, you believe that it is your conscience and not your emotions that interfere with the intersect and that the lack of trust in Agent Shaw's motives mean that you suspect any mission or methods he assigns to you."

"That is correct General," Chuck's response was brief.

"Interesting but you have not proposed a solution and before I even consider any changes that may be requested you will have to prove your theory is correct," the General actually looked amused at this point as she fully expected Chuck to have a proposal ready.

"I agree General and I do have a suggestion. I propose a demonstration of my intersect control abilities by allowing me to participate in setting mission objectives and planning. A mission that only myself and Casey will be involved in and Agents Shaw and Walker be prohibited from participating and also not allowed to comment. I believe the successful completion of such a mission will help convince you that I can control the intersect and that Agents Shaw and Walker are currently obstacles."

"And if you fail?" The General queried.

"Then take whatever action you deem fit," Chuck stated with finality.

"Assuming you succeed I presume you will require the removal of Shaw and Walker from the team?"

This was it, if Chuck confirmed the General's presumption Sarah knew it was over between her and Chuck.

"Agent Shaw yes, and I suggest you keep an eye on him as I fear he may be unstable and go to any lengths to destroy the Ring without any consideration for who gets hurt or used in the process," Chuck was emphatic on this and the General nodded her agreement to his suggestion.

"But Agent Walker I would like to remain."

The General was surprised at this considering everything that had been said so far, "May I ask why you want her to remain and why I should consider allowing her to remain if her presence is an obstacle to the efficient utilization of the intersect?"

Chuck's demeanour had noticeable changed from that of an agent back to a simple nerd herd supervisor, "For me, I want her to stay because I love her and I have to have hope somewhere inside she still cares for me."

"Are you admitting that Agent Walker is comprised or at least she was?"

" Don't be coy General you have known ever since the 49b and there is no way you believed the bullshit cover story concocted by Colonel Casey when Sarah and I went off the grid to find my father."

"Granted but that still doesn't explain why I should allow her to stay. If you do not trust her she will interfere with the intersect."

Chuck was in rational agent mode again, "It depends on whether you want a long term human intersect agent or are satisfied with a weapon that will likely be useless within a year." The last was stated with such decisiveness and sorrow that the General was taken aback.

"You will need to give me more to go on Chuck." The General was a hard-ass but you did not get to a senior position in the military without being able to read people and she could see that Chuck needed some compassion at this time.

"General, ever since I downloaded the intersect I, along with Sarah and Casey have accomplished great things but I have also witnessed quite a few I would rather forget." Sarah was sure that Chuck was thinking of Mauser and his execution at Sarah's hand.

"Sarah and Casey to some extent, but mostly Sarah, helped me come to terms with what I have seen but it does not stop the nightmares." Chuck looked up appearing wistful as he continued.

"Did you know that Sarah made a point of having a sleepover after each mission, for the cover she always claimed, but whenever I woke up in a cold sweat or screaming she would hold me and quietly calm me down." Chuck aware he was coming across as sentimental but did not care.

"I need someone like that in my life, correction, I need Sarah in my life to do that otherwise I will be burnt out within a year and I am scared that it will be too much for me to handle."

"Your right Sarah and I have trust issues and that we may never be able to resolve them but if we can, together we can provide you with a fully functioning human intersect for years to come."

Chuck was emotionally drained and had no more arguments for the General, the ball was firmly in her court.

Sarah was torn, she was upset that Chuck didn't trust her but she was also elated that he still loved her and was willing to give them a chance which she resolved to grab with both hands.

On screen the General finally spoke after considering all that Chuck had said, "OK Mister Bartowski I will give you the opportunity to prove your theory with a mission that you will lead on and Colonel Casey will provide support. If successful Agent Shaw will be dismissed and Agent Walker will be ordered to resume her role as your cover girlfriend."

Sarah was ecstatic, she knew the mission had succeeded and as Chuck's girlfriend again she would have the chance to rebuild their relationship.

Therefore when Chuck responded with an emphatic "No" the General was not the only one to be shocked.

"General if I am to be able to trust Sarah I need to know she is here because she wants to be not because she is ordered to do so. If I have any doubts that she is with me for any reason other than love than those doubts will inhibit the intersect. If I am successful I want you to give Sarah her choice of assignments without threat of punishment or coercing her into choosing to stay."

"And if she chooses to leave?"

"The get as much out of me as you possible can before I crack! Chuck stated without emotion.

The video froze having reached the end of the recording.

Sarah, for the first time in a while found herself with a clear head when it came to Chuck. She had no doubt what her decision would be but she knew that she needed to speak to Chuck and was not prepared to wait. Quickly getting dressed and tying her hair in a loose ponytail she grabbed her car keys headed out of her hotel room aiming for Chuck's apartment, determined to wait for him if he had not yet returned from Castle.

When she arrived at Chuck's place she found his room dark as he had not yet returned so she took a seat on the rim of the fountain, scene of so many boy-girl talks with Chuck and settled down to wait.

Within a minute of her arrival Casey's door opened, "Been expecting you, bugs are off and I am going to bed, you have intersect protection tonight." Casey turned and headed back into his apartment without waiting for a reply and choosing to pretend he did not hear Sarah's heartfelt "Thanks Casey."

It was shortly after 4am when Chuck exited his herder and entered the courtyard that led to his apartment. Unlike Casey and even after receiving a heads up he was still surprised to see Sarah sitting on the fountain. His surprise caused him to gasp and Sarah to jump up and face him.

While Sarah was sure she loved Chuck and wanted to work things when she saw him standing in front of her she immediately remembered another time he stood facing her, at a train station in Prague. She remembered how her heart had been broken and once again in front of Charles Irving Bartowski her emotional control left her, "You don't trust me!" She almost shouted, blue eyes blazing with anger.

_Next chapter nearly finished, will be posted next time I have internet access._


	6. Shaw's comeuppance

_A/N: written before 3.12 and 3.13_

"_You don't trust me!" She almost shouted, blue eyes blazing with anger. _

In times of stress and the few times she had felt vulnerable Sarah's instinct had always been to fight and that was why she was acting angry at Chuck. She knew she loved Chuck and she had seen the video of his discussion with the General and accepted that from his perspective he had some justification in not trusting her. However, applying school yard rules of "he started it" Sarah believed she had been wronged first and if anything it was her who should not trust Chuck after being rejected in Prague.

As quickly as the anger came it drained away and Sarah was mortified. Believing she had just blown any chance of making things right with Chuck and with tears starting to well in her eyes she started to exit the courtyard breaking into a run as she passed Chuck.

To her surprise she had not gone more that a pace past Chuck when two strong arms grabbed her and spun her around. She found herself held tightly to Chuck's chest as he whispered one word in her ear, "Finally".

Sarah was dumbfounded, she wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up into Chuck's face not sure what she expected to see expressed there. To her surprise Chuck's look was one of relief and his brown eyes held nothing but warmth. Stepping away from him, Sarah immediately felt the loss of his arms, the warmth and security they provided. At that moment she wanted nothing more that to be held by him but they both realized they would need a little distance if they were going to get through this.

"What do you mean 'Finally"", Sarah asked Chuck for an explanation.

Chuck sighed and sat down on the edge of the fountain before replying, "Do you know how long I have waited to see a reaction from you. I have watched you turn back into an emotionless superspy again and I thought I had lost you forever, particularly when you started dating Shaw." Chuck could not prevent himself from saying Shaw's name with a hint of venom.

Sarah was surprised to hear her own fears about Chuck changing being echoed back at her. 'What did you expect Chuck, I finally get up the courage to take a chance at a normal life and then you reject me."

"Sarah, I didn't reject you, I rejected the half assed plan you came up with and if you had hung around rather than jumping on the train I would've explained that." Chuck was mildly exasperated that Sarah still thought them running away together would have resulted in the normal life they both, at one time or another, professed they wanted.

"Sarah, you came up with that plan within an hour of me uploading the intersect and we never had a chance to discuss it before I was shipped off to Prague." Chuck sighed, "and once I was in Prague I didn't have a way to contact you."

"We would have been together Chuck, wasn't that enough?"

"We would have been alone, hunted by our own side as well as by Fulcrum/The Ring (delete as applicable)," Chuck tried vainly to lighten the mood a little, "plus we would have been entirely reliant on you for our protection. Sooner or later we would have burnt out and one of us would have made a mistake, probably me."

Chuck continued staring intently into Sarah's eyes, he needed to get Sarah to understand that running was never an option otherwise they really were through, "with me as a fully trained spy we would be able to watch each others backs and this way we will still be able to see Ellie and Awesome and even Morgan to give us that taste of normality until we have had enough of saving the world. Plus with Casey also watching our backs we would not always have to be looking over our shoulders when we go on dates or just want some alone time."

Chuck held his breath as he waited expectantly for Sarah's response, finally Sarah spoke with a quiet, "I see your point," and Chuck breathed a sigh of relief and gave Sarah an affectionate squeeze which was rewarded with a small smile.

"So, are we good?" Sarah asked Chuck.

"Not yet but it's a start, now its your turn," Chuck stated. He had been able to explain himself to Sarah, now it was her turn.

"My turn for what?" Sarah asked, not entirely surprised but trying to stall and buy some time.

Chuck's initial response was one word, "Shaw." Seeing Sarah's downcast look he decided to give her some time to come up with a satisfactory response because he really needed to know what she saw in Shaw but more than that he hoped it was an answer he could live with.

"It was partly because he was there Chuck. I saw what you were becoming and thought if you continued the way you were you would someday end up as someone like Shaw," Sarah began. "I was lonely and he helped me not feel so alone at night but mostly I wanted to see if I could be happy with the man I thought you were bccoming."

It was a start but Chuck was in no way satisfied and Sarah could tell. "He was the one pushing me to change Sarah and you just stood by and let him and even helped at times."

Sarah moved away from Chuck as she fired back a defensive retort, "Hey I was still pissed at you because of Prague and you were the one who wanted to be a spy, so I was just doing what was considered necessary to train you to be the spy you wanted to be."

"And what did you conclude?" Chuck asked.

"He's not you, he was simply another Bryce and I was never in love with either of them."

Chuck accepted that Sarah had a point, "OK I guess we will chalk this up to a lack of relationship experience but just to be absolutely clear until one of says emphatically that we are broken up any disagreements are to be considered domestic arguments to be discussed at the earliest opportunity."

At this Sarah smiled, "So we are in a relationship are we? I don't recall being asked."

Chuck wanted to say yes so much but he had not even raised the biggest sticking point yet, "What about your name?"

Sarah knew it was too much to hope that Chuck would not bring up her revealing her name to Shaw.

"I have wanted to know everything about you for so long and you constantly refused to let me know anything real but you tell Shaw your name before you even have a date." Chuck was almost pleading for her to have a good reason.

Sarah could not come up with a reason that would satisfy Chuck so, once again she stalled turning it back on him, "I gave you a chance after my high school reunion but you said you didn't need to know."

"I don't want to know because you feel obligated or because you think I deserve some kind of reward," Chuck explained, "If it was simply a case of knowing for the sake of knowing I could just take it from the intersect. I want you to tell me because you want to and because you trust me enough and when you told him it made me think you never trusted me and that is a vicious perpetuating circle."

Sarah could not believe she was going to start crying again but she could not see any way past this, "I wanted to see what it felt like to not have to hide and my only thought afterwards was that I was sorry it wasn't you. I'm sorry Chuck." She was certain she had lost him but forced herself to look at him, awaiting his response.

To Sarah it seemed like an eternity until he responded but when it came Chuck's response was quiet but firm, "When you love someone sometimes saying sorry is enough."

Chuck gave Sarah a small smile and she launched herself at him, crashing her lips to his, urgently probing for entrance to his mouth and for what seemed like hours but was only a matter of minutes Chuck more than matched her enthusiasm before pulling away.

"I would love to continue Sarah but I don't think the courtyard is the appropriate place plus I am exhausted and need to get to bed."

Sarah was disappointed and did not even try to hide it but when Chuck casually held out his hand and said, "Coming," her smile was as bright as a solar flare and exhausted as she was she could have sworn she was walking on air as they entered Chuck's apartment.

Even though he said the bugs were off Casey couldn't resist listening in although he made sure there were no recordings. Even he could not resist a smile as it appeared his friends (although it would be a cold day in hell before he admitted it out loud) had finally sorted themselves out.

* * *

Much later that morning Sarah awoke from a deep sleep, never having felt so safe and relaxed, surprised that all it took was to be wrapped in Chuck's arms.

"Morning," Chuck greeted when he realized Sarah was awake by the change in her breathing.

Once she realized that Chuck was also awake Sarah quickly turned to him and continued the passionate attack the she had started last night. Once again Chuck responded in a manner that had Sarah almost at the edge even though all they had done so far was kissed and Chuck hadn't even tried for second base yet.

And once again it was Chuck that reluctantly called a halt before things went past the point of no return, "Our timing sucks, we have a briefing with Beckman in an hour and I need to get a shower and I assume you will want to go back to your hotel for a change of clothes."

Sarah reluctantly muttered her agreement but Chuck wasn't finished and continued with what could only be described as a lust filled smirk, "Plus with what I have planned an hour is going to be nowhere near enough!"

"Setting expectations high aren't you Chuck," Sarah replied before letting out a giggle as Chuck goosed her.

Chuck joined in the laughter and got up from the bed preparing to get ready to face the day.

Sarah had just finished fastening the jeans she had hastily thrown on the previous evening when her phone rang with the distinctive ringtone assigned to General Beckman. Chuck also recognized the ringtone and knowing what the call was likely to be about offered to make himself scarce so Sarah could have some privacy. But Sarah was having none of it and grasped Chuck's hand as she answered her phone putting in on speakerphone.

"Walker, secure."

"Agent Walker, I have a proposition for you, are you alone?" the General queried.

"General, I have you on speakerphone, I am with Chuck at his apartment," Sarah responded turning to gaze into the warmth of Chuck's eyes before continuing, "I believe I know what you are going to ask and I want to stay in Burbank with Chuck as his girlfriend, his real girlfriend," the last said with emphasis.

If the General was surprised that Sarah knew what she was going to ask she did not show it, "I assume that Colonel Casey showed you the video. Well I can't say I am surprised and to be honest I am not even disappointed he did so."

"The three of you make an exceptional team and I am glad to see that you have each others backs outside of missions as well as during missions. I will speak with all three of you at the scheduled briefing and for your information I have already informed Agent Shaw his services are no longer required and he should be on his way to the airport to catch a flight to Langley as we speak," and with that the General hung up.

Chuck was extremely happy with the day so far and could not stop himself thinking out loud, "Do you think the General would be more polite if I claimed rudeness interfered with the effectiveness of the intersect."

Sarah just burst out laughing before giving Chuck another scorching kiss and pushing him to get ready. Instead Chuck escorted Sarah to the apartment door to see her on her way back to the hotel for a change of clothes before the briefing.

With the door open and Chuck wrapped only in a towel, a prelude to his shower, they were sharing another passionate kiss only to be interrupted by Casey, "You have a room Bartowski, use it or I am going to hose the two of you down and try and keep it out of the missions!"

Sarah jumped away from Chuck with a girlish giggle before leaning in to give him one last peck on the lips before heading off. She walked backwards across the courtyard with Chuck watching her all the way and it was only Chuck's shouted intervention that prevented her from falling into the fountain.

As Sarah finally exited the courtyard Casey turned to Chuck, "I swear if you two are going to be like this all the time I am going to end up shooting myself or better still, shooting you two."

Chuck just smiled allowing Casey to have his grumbles without bothering with a scathing retort. Chuck turned to enter his apartment to finish getting ready for the forthcoming briefing, leaving Casey to finish waxing the Crown Vic which he had been doing before being interrupted. Before closing the door Chuck could have sworn he heard Casey whistling but decided not to comment, knowing full well that Casey would never admit it and believing that if Casey was in a good mood he had earned it.

* * *

Once again Sarah was close to record time as she sped back to the hotel wanting to get changed and meet up with Chuck as soon as possible. As she entered her room her spy training kicked in, overriding her euphoria, she sensed something was amiss. She was greeted by the sight of Shaw calmly sitting in a chair by the window with a gun aimed unwavering at her heart, "Hello Sarah, take out your gun and throw it on the bed."

"What are you doing Daniel?" Sarah tried to reason with him while assessing the possibility of disarming him, knowing it was fruitless as he was a highly trained CIA agent, possibly even her superior when it came to unarmed combat. The fact Shaw had a gone trained on Sarah meant it was a foregone conclusion that at this time she couldn't take him.

"Your gun Sarah," Shaw insisted, "and your knives and remember I have had the pleasure of seeing you undress so I know where you hide them.

Sarah slowly drew her gun and threw it onto the bed. "I am not wearing any knives," Sarah responded truthfully, "I left in a hurry last night for personal reasons and did not take any." Sarah deliberately did not mention Chuck's name as she did not want to risk inciting Shaw's anger. An irrelevant consideration as it happens.

"No need to be coy Sarah," Shaw smirked, "I am fully aware of where you were last night. I don't believe you about the knives and I am not foolish enough to get close to pat you down so I guess you will just have to undress to prove you don't have any."

Sarah recognized Shaw's professionalism and quickly removed all her clothes to prove she was unarmed. Even though she had been naked in front of Shaw before and on missions this was the first time she had felt degraded which she contributed to Chuck's influence. Thankfully once she had proven she did indeed not have any knives Shaw let her get dressed. She so wanted to pull her clothes on as fast as possible but deliberately took her time as she did not want Shaw to know he was getting to her.

Now put these on your wrists, in front as you will be driving later." Shaw threw Sarah a zip-tie which she fastened around her wrists and pulled tight with her teeth. "OK, you know I am unarmed and my hands are tied, do you mind telling me what is going on now?" Sarah asked, " I thought you were on your way to Langley."

"We can talk on the way, now I believe we have a briefing at Castle due to start soon," Shaw rose indicating with a nod of the head that Sarah should proceed him out the door, "We'll take the back entrance, after all we don't want anyone to get the idea that you are in some kind of trouble."

At the car Shaw directed Sarah to the drivers seat of her Porsche while he got into the passenger side, "You drive and I will shift gears and don't try anything stupid, right now I need you alive but if I have to kill you I will, as I can always use Bartowski's sister to ensure his compliance."

At this Sarah realized this was all about Chuck, Shaw wanted him to help avenge his wife's death and she was the leverage.

When she challenged Shaw on this he indicated confirmation, "Very good Agent Walker, I need Chuck and as you saw yesterday there is no way he will simply do as I ask, hence I need you or in your absence his sister will be more than sufficient."

For some reason Shaw was suddenly in a talkative mood but as Sarah drove and he shifted gear when required, his gunhand never wavered. "I did contemplate grabbing Ellie last night but figured you were with Chuck and having a CIA agent, an NSA Colonel and the intersect literally next door, grabbing you seemed to be the easiest option."

Sarah was surprised that she could follow Shaw's rationale without becoming angry at herself. Before last night she would have been angry at allowing herself to become so compromised with Chuck that she could be used against him. New she simply viewed it as a relationship hazard that any spy could face and had complete faith that Chuck would view it the same way. Further she fully trusted in the teams abilities that once they were altogether they would find some way out of the predicament. Comfortable with these thoughts Sarah was the epitome of superagent calm as drove to Castle.

* * *

Chuck and Casey carpooled as they made their way to Castle for the briefing with Beckman and Chuck had no problems with allowing Casey to drive as he fully expected to be leaving with Sarah in her Porsche once the meeting was over and they finished their respective BuyMore and Orange Orange shifts.

They arrived a few minutes before the scheduled meeting time and both were surprised not to find Walker already there and waiting. While Chuck tried to contact Sarah on her phone Casey fired up the monitors for the briefing.

Chuck was unable to get hold of Sarah and initially put it down to her being in transit at her usual high speeds and not wanting to be distracted if she was close to Castle anyway. However when the General appeared on the screen and Sarah had still not arrived he began to get worried and even considered the possibility that she had changed her mind and decided to leave after all.

The General immediately noted Sarah's absence and commented accordingly, but surprisingly with a smile "Where is agent Walker? To be honest considering our conversation earlier I expected to see her welded to Agent Bartowski's side."

This playful side of the General was one that Chuck had never seen and under other circumstances he would have responded in a similar manner but concern for Sarah kept him from smiling. He was just about to express his concerns when movement on one of the monitors covering the outside of Orange Orange showed Sarah's car pulling into the parking lot. Chuck turned his gaze back to the General and said with relief, "She is just pulling up now General she should be with us in a few minutes."

The General was still in a playful mood, "I hope Agent Walker's tardiness is not going to be a factor caused by your extra-curricular activities Agent Bartowski."

Chuck actually blushed and Casey grinned at his friend's discomfort but unfortunately neither of them noticed that Sarah was not alone when she exited her car. As a consequence both of them were concentrating on the monitors when Sarah preceded Shaw into Castle and with Chuck and Casey standing in the way, obscuring the General's view everyone was taken by surprise when it was Shaw who spoke.

"Turnaround slowly," Shaw requested as he took a step forward to stand directly behind Sarah, holding her in place to use as a shield with his gun pressed firmly to Sarah's head.

The surprise meant that Chuck and Casey did indeed turnaround but neither of them did it slowly. Both turned with lightning fast reactions and Casey reaching for his gun only to be surprised that it was absent.

Chuck had been faster than Casey and had grabbed the gun from the waste band of Casey's pants as he spun and was now aiming unerringly at Daniel Shaw's head.

Casey's look of impressed surprise would have given Chuck several month's worth of ammunition for teasing him if he had seen it but right now Chuck only had eyes for Sarah.

With the gun trained on Shaw, Chuck and Sarah locked eyes and Chuck felt overwhelmed with love as he saw the love that Sarah had for him reflected there along with absolute trust in Chuck's abilities to get them out of this. Sarah saw her own feelings reflected back and with the silent communication that only happens when two people are fully attuned to each other she stilled herself and allowed Chuck to play out the situation.

Once he saw Sarah become totally calm Chuck shifted his gaze to Shaw and patiently waited for Shaw to make the next move.

"Chuck you are going to put the gun down and come with me. You and I or more precisely the intersect and I are gojng to kill everybody who has ever been associated with the Ring and you are going to do exactly as I say." The threat to Sarah's life was not stated explicitly but everybody had no doubt it was there.

"You do know that with the intersect I can easily make this shot without any danger to Sarah," Chuck hoped his confidence in the intersect was well placed and that Shaw would reconsider.

"I have no doubt the intersect can make the shot but you said it yourself you will not kill," Shaw threw Chuck's own morality in his face fully expecting Chuck's compliance.

Instead Chuck was exasperated, "What is it with you spies? Are you so trained to believe that killing is always acceptable. Can you not see that there is a difference in killing someone in cold blood simply because you were following orders and killing to protect someone you love."

Shaw only had time for a look of "Oh Shit!" before Chuck pulled the trigger. His aim was true and Shaw went flying backwards with a small neat hold in his forehead and a much bigger exit wound.

Sarah's calm remained and she looked at Chuck as he nervously caught her gaze. When Chuck looked into Sarah's eyes his relief was immense that the love and trust he had seen earlier were still there and the fact he had pulled the trigger had not diminished him in her eyes.

Sarah believed she better understood Chuck now and accepted that he hadn't changed and that he had always being wiling to do whatever it took to protect those he cared about.

Chuck started to take a step towards Sarah when Casey grabbed the gun from his hand, "Touch Vera again Chuck and I will kill you myself," before pushing past to confirm, needlessly, that Shaw was dead.

Chuck and Sarah came together and not even bothering to remove the zip-tie Chuck lifted Sarah's arms and placed them over his head. They simultaneously whispered "I love you", both blushing in response before their mouths crashed together in a kiss that promised a lifetime together,

They were oblivious to the General's continued presence on the monitors and only pulled apart when Casey's muttered something about a bucket of water. Realising where they were and the fact they were not alone Chuck quickly removed the zip-tie from Sarah's wrists and they assembled alongside Casey in front of the General projecting an image of complete professionalism although Chuck and Sarah's hands were tightly clasped out of sight.

The General chose to ignore the earlier display of affection, "A clean-up crew will be dispatched immediately to retrieve Agent Shaw's body. He was a good agent at one time, I hope none of you end up the same way." With that the General broke the connection leaving Team Bartowski alone in Castle.

Chuck and Casey left for their scheduled afternoon shift at the Buymore while Sarah manned the Orange Orange counter and awaited the arrival of the clean-up crew.

At closing time Chuck and Casey left the Buymore together with Casey hiding his amusement at the way Chuck was vibrating with anticipation at spending some quality time with Sarah, hopefully without a mission interfering.

Casey was standing outside the Crown Vic watching Chuck rush across to the Orange Orange when his phone rang with a call from the General.

"Casey Secure," he responded.

"Beckman Secure," the General returned, "Colonel I need to ask if you think the relationship between Bartowski and Walker is likely to be a problem on missions?"

Casey took his time before responding, watching Chuck and Sarah through the Orange Orange window amazed at the size of the smile on Sarah's faced and always stunned by how much of a girl she turned into when with Chuck.

"If it was two trained spies we were talking about I would without caveat say yes it would be a problem, but Chuck is not a trained spy and even Walker would admit she is a different agent than before she met Chuck.

To be honest General I think it will make them both better, he will no longer be trying to impress her or worried when she has to play a mark, confident that she will be there for him and she will be able to concentrate on her own job and trust Chuck to do his.

Plus I think Chuck was right, if she had left he would have been burnt out within a year."

In all their long working relationship this was the longest speech the General could ever rccall Casey giving. She did not give any indication of agreeing or disagreeing with Casey's assessment before asking the question she really wanted to ask,

"John, considering the abilities demonstrated by Chuck I am considering granting him lead on mission planning for Team Bartowski, will you be able to accept a subordinated role?"

Casey was a lifelong military man and he was keenly aware of his strengths and limitations so his answer was almost immediate, "General, Chuck is ten times smarter than I will ever be, he finds solutions to problems before I am even aware they exist. So to answer your question I have no problem accepting his authority when it comes to mission planning, but I would suggest that when it comes to actual missions he remain subordinate to myself and Walker, at least until he has more experience."

"Agreed Colonel," Beckman was surprised at how readily Casey was prepared to accept the change in roles and was about to terminate the connection but she sensed there was something else Casey wanted to add.

"Is there something you wanted to add Colonel?" she queried.

Casey took a deep breath, "Yes General there is. I want to make it absolutely clear that should you ever issue an order to terminate Bartowski, I will disobey that order and further, I am prepared to kill anyone else you may send and I am pretty confident that Walker feels the same."

Once again the General was amazed at the loyalty that Chuck Bartowski engendered in those he himself was loyal to. She did not like Casey's tone of delivery but she was not upset by the words.

"Don't worry Colonel I will never issue that order as I am sure it will never be necessary and do you know why?" Casey knew the question was rhetorical in nature and did not attempt to respond.

"Colonel, you yourself once told me that Bartowski was a good man who had provided a service to his country and today we have seen that he is prepared to do what is necessary and what is right no matter the personal consequences. I have absolutely no doubt that should he ever be captured that Chuck will do whatever it takes to prevent the intersect from being used by enemies of the United States of America."

Casey concurred with the General's assessment and had prepared for the connection to be broken when the General, almost as an afterthought, threw out, "Oh, Colonel were you aware that the intersect comes with a delete function, effectively the IT equivalent of a suicide pill," before finally ending the discussion.

_The end (for now)_

_A/N: May choose to continue or develop some other ideas I have. Glad that like if my story, Shaw is finally gone._


End file.
